World Thinking Day 2025 Activity Guide
Our Story: Reflecting the symbolism and values of our Movement
Activities for Girl Scout Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors.
“Global sisterhood widens your point of view, makes you more empathetic to the world around you, and builds understanding when you realize how much of a bigger world there is and your role in it.”
— Quote from a Girl Scout
In Girl Scouts, you are part of a special group that stretches across the world. On February 22 of each year, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from over 150 countries celebrate World Thinking Day. That’s one big celebration! World Thinking Day is a way to celebrate with Girl Scouts and Girl Guides everywhere by doing the same activities around a shared theme.
Here are the four steps to earn your World Thinking Day award.
1. Explore World Thinking Day.
2. Experience World Thinking Day with purpose.
3. Investigate this year’s World Thinking Day theme.
4. Share what you learned and commit to a better future.
Ready to think big and explore meaningful issues in your community and beyond? Let’s get started!
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to empowering girls and young women in the world.
STEP 1: Explore World Thinking Day.
Choice 1: Get inspired by WAGGGS Global Advocacy Champions.
Just like Girl Scouts in the United States complete Take Action projects and awards, Girl Guides are doing things like raising awareness about diseases and fighting for access to education for all young people.
For this activity, learn about the latest WAGGGS Global Advocacy Champions by going online to read some of their stories. Did any spark something in you? If so, what made it significant for you? Do any stories inspire you to think about a project you could do in your own community? How can we learn from and celebrate our global community of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides? Have a discussion with your troop and family members and share answers to these questions.
Choice 2: Share the World Thinking Day story and theme with younger Girl Scouts.
Read through the story called World Thinking Day History in Four Parts and add part four about this year’s World Thinking Day theme, then come up with a way to share the full story with a group of younger Girl Scouts. You might want to create a skit, video, or booklet about the story.
Choice 3: Create your own World Thinking Day symbol.
The World Trefoil pin is the unifying symbol of WAGGGS, and every part of its design has meaning. On it are three leaves representing the three parts of the Girl Scout Promise, with a flame that stands for loving all the people in the world. Come up with a symbol for the theme of this year’s World Thinking Day.
STEP 2: Experience World Thinking Day with purpose.
World Thinking Day is more than just thinking. It is knowing that you have the power to make a difference alongside Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world. Create an experience for World Thinking Day that helps you learn more about the world and your place in it.
The World Trefoil symbol’s background is blue to represent the color of the sky. The outer ring’s gold band represents sunshine. The inside gold leaves stand for the three parts of the Girl Scout Promise. There are two gold stars: one is for the Girl Scout Promise and the other is for the Girl Scout Law. The center gold compass needle is the safeguard between the Promise and Law. The gold base underneath the compass is the flame of international friendship.
Choice 1: Interview each other.
The Girl Scout Movement is made up of many cultures. Culture is the customs of a particular group of people—generally we think about culture as tied to a shared country of origin, nationality, ethnicity, or race. Team up to interview another Girl Scout and share about your cultures. What are your cultural traditions? In your culture, what are the common foods, clothing styles, and music? Ask each other about communication styles, values, and relationship patterns across different generations. Talk about your family cultures. Family culture means the values, rules, and traditions that shape a family’s life and routine. For instance, maybe you gather together with your extended family every weekend, but someone else might go to a reunion once a year. Discuss the differences and similarities. Once you have talked about your own cultures, you can also talk about cultures within the United States. What differences might exist between the east and west coasts? The Midwest and the South?
Choice 2: Investigate what’s global in your community.
Plan a field trip with your troop or with a family member to explore what’s global in your community. You might discover a parade, fair, exhibit, or festival celebrating culture. Who is participating in this cultural event? Where did the culture originate? Ask someone to help you check calendars in your community center to find an event with a global connection. Or explore your neighborhood to find signs of culture in your community. It might be the food at a restaurant or the practices used at various places of worship, or books for your age group in the library that explore various cultures. Draw or make a list of everything you find and create a journal about what you learned about various cultures.
Choice 3: Get to know someone from another culture.
There are many cultural differences among people who grew up in the United States, and there may be even more between people who grew up in a country outside of the United States. Let’s learn! Connect with someone in your community—maybe in your own troop or family—who grew up outside of the United States. Ask if they’ll speak to your troop about the culture they were raised in and what it was like coming to a new country. Think of ideas together and invite one or more of these people to a meeting where you can ask questions. Make sure to come up with ideas for questions beforehand. Ask your guest if they can bring something from their culture to show the group, such as a food or a piece of clothing. Is there a special dance or song they can teach you from their home country? Or maybe they can teach you how to say hello or show respect to adults in their culture.
STEP 3: Investigate this year’s World Thinking Day theme.
The World Thinking Day 2025 theme is Our Story: Reflecting the symbolism and values of our Movement.
In Step 1, you explored World Thinking Day. You might have chosen to learn more about WAGGGS Global Advocacy Champions or the history of World Thinking Day. If you did, you know that Girl Scouts and Girl Guides everywhere have a long, rich history of taking action on global issues. They use their voices and speak out! In doing so, they build the confidence to know they can make a real difference. How do we know this for sure? Because we checked! Research shows that compared to non–Girl Scouts, Girl Scouts are more likely to have confidence in themselves and
Be a part of this proud tradition of advocacy and action. Choose one of the following activities to find out how you can build the confidence to speak up for yourself, others, or a cause you care about.
Choice 1: Use your voice and your body language in a fun debate. It’s important to have the confidence to speak up for yourself. Sometimes doing this can feel a little scary—you might feel unsure of what to say, or how people will react. But it’s okay—really—to tell others what you want, what you don’t want, and what you need. After all, they can’t know if you don’t tell them. Being clear about what you want and need is an essential communication skill. And guess what? The more you speak up, the easier it gets. When you’re brave enough to say what you’re thinking, it makes you feel good about yourself. When you feel good about yourself, you get more confident about speaking up.
Practice speaking your mind by holding a debate with another Girl Scout. Choose a debate partner, then pick a topic that interests you both. The topic can be anything, from something simple (What animal makes the best pet? Is it better to be hot or cold?) to something more serious (Is social media mostly good or mostly bad? Should voting be mandatory?). Set a time limit for discussion. Then it’s ready, set, go! Talk with assurance as you explain your viewpoint. Listen carefully before responding to the other person’s view. Think about how you can use body language to show confidence. Most importantly, have fun. You may be nervous at first, but that’s why you’re practicing. Speaking up for what you believe makes you a leader!
Tapping the side of your nose in England means something should be kept a secret. In China, when you point to your nose with your index finger, you are referring to yourself. Around the world, to show appreciation to another driver, it’s a common courtesy to raise or wave your hand. their abilities.*
Body Language Around the World
Body language can mean different things, depending on where you are in the world. To show respect when greeting someone, in Japan you would bow, while in the United States you would shake their hand.
*According
Choice 2: Role-play speaking up for someone else.
More than 20 percent of students ages 12 through 18 report being bullied at school.** This means it’s possible that one out of every five kids at your school is being bullied. Sometimes bullies physically harm their targets. Other times they just say or write unkind, hurtful things. Either way, the person being bullied feels awful and often doesn’t know what to do. They may be afraid to speak out and stop the abuse because they are worried the bullying may get even worse.
Have you taken action to support someone who is being bullied? With a Girl Scout partner, discuss and role-play bullying scenarios you have witnessed or heard about at your school or other places. Maybe someone is getting teased, or pushed in the cafeteria, or hurt in another mental or physical way. What are some things you can do or say? What would be your best action? Find your voice and have the courage and confidence to speak up.
Choice 3: Write a letter to your congressperson about a cause you care about.
When you speak up for a cause you believe in, you’re taking action. There are many ways to “speak up”—not all of them involve talking! You can use your pen, too.
Use your voice by writing a letter to a local congressperson to ask for their help. First, think about different causes and decide which one you’d like to address. Do you feel strongly about a cause that affects everyone in the world, such as the environment and climate change? Or do you want the congressperson to provide assistance on a local issue, such as the cleanup of an empty lot or the opening of a community center? Is social injustice something you would like to see the local government take steps to improve? In the letter, be as specific as possible about what you want to change and what makes these changes necessary. Provide details and facts. Suggest ways the congressperson can get involved, whether by allocating funds, providing specific government initiatives, or even vocalizing their own support for the cause.
You can tackle this activity with your troop, if you prefer. Choose a cause you’re passionate about as a group and do some research to learn more about it. Write a letter or email and sign it from the whole troop. When it comes to speaking up, many voices are louder—and often better—than one!
**According to the National Center for Education Statistics, School Year 2016–2017.
Want to learn more about building confidence and speaking up for yourself and others?
Check out the Mental Wellness patch program.
Finding My Voice (Girl Scout Cadettes)
With this patch program, you'll get a chance to learn about:
• Mental health stigma and how your voice matters
• Helping friends who may be in trouble
• Being mindful about social media
• Self-care and how to practice it
When you’ve earned this patch, you’ll know how to speak up to help yourself and others who may need some extra support around mental wellness.
Showing Up for Me and You (Girl Scout Seniors /Ambassadors)
With this patch program, you'll get a chance to learn about:
• Mental health stigma and why language matters
• How to build strategies to navigate challenges
• How to seek help when needed
• How to support others
When you’ve earned this patch, you’ll know how to help yourself and others to tackle mental wellness challenges.
STEP 4: Share what you learned and
commit
to a better future.
Share what you learned about World Thinking Day. Did you connect with someone to learn about their country or culture? Tell your friends about it and share what you discovered. Did you explore something interesting about the World Thinking Day theme? You could share that instead.
Choice 1: Participate in a World Thinking Day event. You and your troop can plan a Take Action project based on the issues you learned about. Or plan an event for friends and family that focuses on the issue. Have food or music from cultures you may have learned about. Invite a guest speaker to talk to your group. Reach out to your troop network to find organizations with experience in global issues, especially one that connects to the theme you learned about. Find out from your guest speaker how you can make a difference. What can you do in your home, community, and the world?
Choice 2: Create a message.
Work with your group to come up with a message about this year’s theme. Think about creating flyers or posters with the message you want to share at school, at events, or through social media. Decide if you want to take a photograph or record a video to share your message. Be sure to include the information you learned and one concrete action that people can do to help. If you decide to share on social media, be sure to talk with your parents first and get their permission. Review the Girl Scout Internet Safety Pledge for more information.
Choice 3: Use design thinking to come up with solutions and share them.
Design thinking is a human-centered approach to solving problems. It’s important to make sure that the solutions we come up with are meeting a need
a community says it has, not what we think it needs. So, talk to or learn about community members and the issues they face. Or brainstorm ideas with your troop to specifically help this year’s World Thinking Day theme. Then make sure to share it with others.
To do this:
● Empathize: First learn about your audience, which includes the people, places, and communities impacted by the problem.
● Define: What are their needs?
● Brainstorm: Come up with as many creative solutions as possible! All ideas are encouraged! Check back in with community members for their input.
● Prototype: Draw or build a representation of your idea. This only needs to be a rough draft to help show your idea.
● Test: Share your idea with others and find ways to improve it.
When you are done with all four steps, make sure you celebrate! Working with your global Girl Scout and Girl Guide community to explore this year’s theme and earn your World Thinking Day award means you’ve helped make the world a better place.
The World Thinking Day Story in Four Parts
Part 1: A Special Day
In 1926, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world met in the United States and created a special day where we can all think of one another and express thanks for our community of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world. They called it Thinking Day. They chose February 22 because it was the birthday of both Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts and co-founder of Girl Guides (along with his sister Agnes Baden-Powell), and his wife Olave Baden-Powell, who was the Chief Girl Guide.
Part 2: A Birthday Gift
In 1932, at the 7th World Conference in Buczek, Poland, it was pointed out that since a birthday often involves presents, it would be a good idea to offer gifts on Thinking Day to support Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world. Olave Baden-Powell wrote a letter asking Girl Scouts and Girl Guides to “Send a penny with their thoughts” on Thinking Day.
Part 3: World Thinking Day
In 1999, at the 30th World Conference in Dublin, Ireland, Thinking Day changed to World Thinking Day as a better name to show our connection with Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the globe.
Part 4: Coming Together
Each year, World Thinking Day focuses on a theme where the whole community of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the globe works together to find ways to help. This year’s theme is Our Story: Reflecting the symbolism and values of our Movement.